The Blue Boy & The Golden Girl
by Avenue Potter
Summary: Betty & Jughead before they were Bughead. It's Freshman year and Jughead finds Betty crying after cheerleading tryouts and consoles her . . . Inspired by the Bughead Summer Meme Challenge 2.
1. Chapter 1

Once again, the blue boy watched the golden girl from afar as he found himself doing more and more often as they sped into adolescence together. They had met as kids through their mutual friend Archie, who was now something more than just a friend to Betty, while the blue boy remained the same to her. Kind of. Her crush on Archie put a strain on their friendship because he . . . well . . . Let's just say he felt more and more left out as her attentions bent more towards his friend. And he slowly became bluer and more withdrawn from both of them as time passed for more reasons than just that.

But she shined. Especially going into cheerleading tryouts her freshman year. She and her sister Polly had practiced relentlessly all summer out in her front yard. He and Archie would sometimes catch glimpses of them between bouts of gaming, especially when their yelling from across the street would become so loud it would cause Archie to lose concentration and get Jughead killed. Again.

"The Blue! And Gold!"

Massive monster growling and chomping noises followed by a loud explosion and then 'Muahahaha! All your bases are belong to us.'

"Dude! Archie! What the fuck?"

"Sorry, bro. It's just the girls, man." Archie put down his controller and said excitedly, "Hey, let's go check them out."

Jughead just shook his head. "One track mind, bro. One track mind."

But Archie was already at the window, peering down at the street below. He smiled and waved at the Cooper sisters. As Jughead peered over his shoulder he saw Betty wave back at the boy next door and noticed her left heel cock inwardly a little, as if she was nervous. His heart sank a little because he knew he would never elicit that kind of reaction from any girl by merely waving at her, and certainly not from a girl like her.

* * *

One day he found her crying at her locker after school. The place was deserted since classes had been let out hours ago.

"Betty? Are you okay?" he asked with concern, coming up to her and putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.

She couldn't answer, only shook her head from side to side, all bleary-eyed.

"What happened?" he asked softly and stroked her shoulder a bit.

"Ch-Cheryl Blossom," Betty choked out.

The blue boy groaned. He was more than familiar with the conniving ways of Riverdale High's resident evil twin. "What did she do?"

"She won't let me be a River Vixen because . . ." Betty stopped and pulled away from him, wrapping her arms about herself and looking down.

"Why Betty?"

She mumbled something incoherent.

He leaned in. "What?"

She spoke again and he could only make out the word 'fat' just as that utterance turned into a sob and she lifted a shaking hand to her mouth.

"Oh, Betty," he said softly and suddenly she was clinging to him, her long-time friend, with her golden pony tail draped over his shoulder and her mouth breathing hotly onto his neck with her sobs as her tears fell onto his collar. He didn't know what to do at first because in that very moment he realized he had feelings for her and her sudden proximity was . . . gulp.

But he figured it out quickly and wrapped his arms around her, too. The whole story poured out of Betty as she clung to him. Cheryl had denied her a spot on the River Vixens cheerleading squad claiming she was too fat and made some quip about her looking like Fat Betty from Mad Men. She had humiliated her in front of everyone in the entire gym.

Jughead pulled Betty away from him, yet kept a firm grip on her shoulders. Looking her straight in the eye he said, "Betty, you're not fat, okay? Don't let Cheryl get to you like that. Besides, why would you want - ?"

Betty pulled fully away and wiped at her eyes, suddenly angry. "Oh, so now I'm going to get the lecture from you about how cheerleading is superficial and insignificant and not worth my time –"

"No," he said patiently.

"No? Then what were you going to say?"

"Betty, I know how important cheerleading is to you. I don't know why, but I know that it is. I saw you practicing all summer. You poured your heart and soul into it. I know how much you wanted this."

She hiccupped – the beginning of another bout of tears.

"Come here," he said, inviting her into his arms again. She slowly walked back over to him and let him hold her. "Cheryl's just being Cheryl. A true Blossom. And I'm sorry it had to affect you this way – that in her spitefulness she took this away from you. But you're not fat, Betty, and even if you were, it wouldn't matter."

"Of course it does," she said, breathing hotly against his neck again. "Everyone judges me for it."

She looked up at him.

"Everyone?" he asked.

"Yeah. Even my friends. Kevin thought Cheryl's Season 5 Betty crack was the funniest thing ever. He was laughing louder than anyone. What does that tell you about what he thinks of me?"

"Betty, Kevin's – "

"And Archie," she buried her head in Jughead's neck again and he held her tighter even though his heart sank at the mention of his best friend's name. "Is this what he thinks of me? Is this why he doesn't seem very interested sometimes? I try so hard . . ."

"Betty, you shouldn't have to try. You're perfect as you are." Archie's an idiot.

"That's what I try for, Juggie. That's what I try so hard to be."


	2. Chapter 2

The blue boy had grown bluer and the golden girl didn't lose her shine despite not making the River Vixens the previous year. The blue boy had grown estranged from his best pal Archie over the summer, which had the unfortunate effect of distancing him from Betty as well since she was still mooning over him and as school started up again and she was back from her summer internship she seemed to prefer his company over Jughead's.

But he had heard that Betty was going to be trying out for the River Vixens again this year, so he stopped her in the hall at school.

"Betty."

"Hey, Jughead. What's up?"

"I heard you're going out for cheerleading again, but Cheryl's still –"

"Oh, don't worry about it. Veronica's going to show me some moves so I can make the team this year," she said nonchalantly.

"Betty –"

"I want this, Jughead. With all my heart."

"I know you do, Betty. And I want it for you."

"You do?" she asked, a little surprised, although she shouldn't have been.

"Yes," he said adamantly. "I know how much this means to you. I'm just worried about how Cheryl's going to act. Especially now with Jason gone and Polly . . . I just don't want to see you get hurt again."

She reached out to touch his cheek. "Aww, that's so sweet. But you don't have to worry. Ronnie will take care of me."

"Veronica? The new girl? You barely know her."

"It'll be fine, Juggie. You'll see."

"I hope so," he said skeptically.

"It'll be okay."

"Well, it better," Jughead said. "Or else this town may see some more Blossom blood. On my hands this time."

"You're so dark, Juggie." It almost sounded like a rebuke, but then unexpectedly her mouth twisted into a weird little smile. "I love it."

* * *

The golden girl was in full glory as she walked along the streets of Riverdale, practically bumping into the blue boy along the way.

"Bet – Betty," he stammered, taking in her outfit. The blue and gold. "You made the squad!"

"Yes!" she said excitedly and hugged him quickly. Then she did a little twirl, showing off her uniform. "I did this for ME, Jughead. Not for anyone else, not to be perfect. Just to be happy. I finally went after something I wanted for myself and I got it!"

"I'm so proud of you, Betty." He truly was.

"Shall I do a little cheer for you?"

He laughed. "Ah, you don't have to Betty. I'm pretty sure I'll see you doing plenty of those in the near future."

She cocked her head to the side. "You mean you'll actually come to a game?"

"If you'll be cheering, yes."

She smiled brightly.

"What are you doing in this part of town?" he asked her.

"Oh, well, as you know the Back to School dance is coming up and I'm going with Archie."

"Uh-huh." _Figures._

"And I need a dress."

"Uh-huh."

"Wanna help me pick one out?"

 _No, not really. But . . ._

"Please?"

* * *

He finds himself waiting outside of the dressing room as she tries on dresses. Pink. Then blue. No pink. He prefers her in blue.

He learns that she's going to the dance with Archie AND Veronica because she'd been too chicken to ask him to go with just her alone and that supposedly it's the night she's planning to finally tell him how she feels. Jughead really doesn't want to be on the receiving end of this conversation . . . So he changes the subject to what he's supposedly here for - to help her pick out a dress.

"Betty, you look great in all of these dresses, really. But you look the best in that one." He points at a soft blue satin one that she'd already tried on that's now hanging on the "maybe" hook. It's an off the shoulder cut and he doesn't get to see her shoulders all that often. He's discovered they're very nice.

She purses her lips, thinking.

"But I think this one's my favorite," she says, running her hands over the dress she's got on. It's pink.

"Well, like Archie's mom always said, 'Pretty in Pink,' right?" he jokes.

"That settles it," she says affirmatively. "Pink for Archie."

"That's fitting." He turns away from her and frowns, then offers to put the off the shoulder dress back. Little does the blue boy know that in mere months the golden girl will be wearing blue for him at the Homecoming dance . . . and that it will be the very dress she remembers he liked her in best that day.

FIN


End file.
